Menu

Sharing recipes and travel adventures…

Washington, DC: Little Serow

by onevanillabean

I have waited a long time to go to Little Serow mainly because you have to get there early, and stand in line in the hopes that you will get one of the 28 seats in one of only two daily seatings Tuesdays-Thursdays.

We arrived at about 5:00pm on a Wednesday, only a handful of people ahead of us. The line grew quickly after we arrived. We were seated promptly at 5:30pm. Our host was gracious and friendly, even when we came in with a stroller and a very chatty toddler in tow. I was surprised at how upbeat and friendly everyone was. I was fully expecting the sense of entitlement that comes with a successful restaurant, but there was no arrogance, no high-brow attitude at all.

Instead, the happy bright seafoam green walls welcomed us. Our server explained the menu and dishes for the evening. Our only worry was that the food would be too spicy, as friends had mentioned this to us. But our fear turned out to be unfounded. Chef Johnny Monis brought out the first couple of dishes. Dishes kept coming out, and we wondered how we would manage to eat all of it.

My favorite dish was the catfish coconut soup (tom kha pla duk). I knew I would fall in love with this soup before I even tasted it. The kaffir lime and galangal make it incredibly aromatic. Then you taste the layers of flavor: sweetness from the palm sugar, and savory notes from chilies and lemongrass. I seriously thought about asking our server if I could get 10 quarts of it to take home with me.

So, was it worth it? Absolutely. Here are the dishes we enjoyed. Two dishes not photographed: crispy rice bites with cilantro and peanuts and the tender pork ribs with dill.

If you haven’t been to Little Serow yet, you must go try it. And if you have already been there, go back for that amazing soup.

Oh wow I would have had many choices with this menu. Been dying to go but what was holding me back was all the pork but here I can count multiple dishes I can have. It all looks delicious however. 1, 5, 6 & 7 look amazing!